When I was in the seventh grade, I took a trip to India. It was a place of rich cultural contradiction, which I chose to take no part in; I was only twelve. Holed up in my Aji’s apartment watching the Disney channel, one day I saw an ad for Fair and Lovely cream, which [...]
A new year. A new start. And for millions of us, new goals. This year, I asked my friends their resolutions. Megumi told me, "I want to be less immature." Sara added, "I want to be less self-absorbed." I was stunned. How could my wonderful, sincere, compassionate friends define themselves in one negative word? Then I [...]
The Super Bowl has officially surpassed simply marking the end of the football season. One of the big takeaways this year for many people wasn’t what occurred on the field, but what occurred during the commercials. The Doritos and Bud Light commercials were still present, but there were also way more social justice movement commercials [...]
Unfortunately, skinny shaming is a real thing...and here's why: 1. Because telling someone who’s skinny to "eat a cheeseburger" is the same as telling a heavy person to "put down the fork." An insult is an insult, and referring to someone’s body, as "a stick" isn’t pleasing to hear. Telling someone, “if you turned sideways [...]
If there’s one thing last weekend taught me, its that Bill Murray is an ungrateful complainer. I would give anything to relive Groundhog Day 2015 over and over again. No diss to Punxsutawney, but my new found admiration for the holiday is unrelated to the weather predicting rodent or western Pennsylvania. Instead, it has everything [...]
Before Nicky Costabile was a YouTube sensation she was a high school girl with a heart of gold. I had the pleasure of working with her in several service efforts as one of the faculty members at Immaculate Heart Academy in Bergen County, NJ. Check her out below jamming at a dance for special needs [...]
“I can’t do this. I can’t go. I can’t move. “ Welcome to the thoughts that went through my head as I prepared to attend my 20th high school reunion. Here I was this mentor, coach, and women’s empowerment leader, and I can’t even clear my own head to just work through my fear. Though [...]
It’s so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season that it becomes easy to forget what the season is all about: giving. Not just giving the perfect toy to a child, the best perfume to mom or the nicest tie to grandpa, but really taking time to figure [...]
Without “giving,” the word “thanksgiving” would not be complete. With all of the great deals offered on days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, a lot of people seem to forget that Thanksgiving is all about being grateful for what we already have. Enter #GivingTuesday: a day where you can give to your preferred organization [...]
